Ukraine: Look past the propaganda

Partial knowledge is the yeast of ignorance, and ignorance is the bread of war.

Ukraine’s U.N. statement that “16,000 Russian soldiers have deployed to Crimea” caused a frenzy among Western media, which ignored the fact that those troops have been in Crimea since the late 1990s in accordance with a Kiev-Moscow treaty [“U.S. faces tough choices on Putin, Ukraine,” Page One, March 5].

Our media describe the situation as a Russian invasion with headlines like: “Ukraine crisis deepens as Russia sends more troops into Crimea,” and “What can Obama do about Russia’s invasion of Crimea?” Never mind that those Russian troops have been stationed in Crimea for more a decade. And Putin’s “violation of international law” does not begin to compare with our nation’s imperial invasion of Iraq.

So how can we explain the hysteria of the Western press, stoked by congressional militarists like U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and the incendiary hyperbole of John Kerry?

To avoid the next war, search out the facts, get both sides of the story. Otherwise, the tide of propaganda would sweep us away again.

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